Hong Kong, 11th December 2007 - Air pollution, carbon emissions, energy consumption and waste recycling may top political agendas and be the source of countless column inches daily yet the message doesn’t appear to be getting through to Asia’s all-important next generation of global citizens who, according to new findings, are not as concerned with the need for environmental protection as perhaps they ought to be.
Including some of the region’s most prolific contributors to environmental degredation past and present, the four country study found on average just 15 per cent of young children are very concerned about the need for action. Yet whilst the children’s mothers express a near unanimous concern (95 per cent) for the environment, still four in every ten of Asia’s youngsters are reportedly either not very or not at all concerned about the need for environmental protection.
Clearly the environmental message is getting through to adults however the findings suggest that current sources of information aimed at children are not effective enough. This is despite a dramatic increase in the number of initiatives and programmes aimed at encouraging environmental awareness amongst younger children.
Designed to investigate the influence of future citizens in China, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand the study, conducted by leading market information provider TNS, sought insight into the behaviour and opinions of children aged between 3 and 9 via exploration of a range of commercial and social issues with their mothers.
Level of concern for environmental protection amongst children aged 3 to 9
|
|
China
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Japan
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Malaysia
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Thailand
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Total Asia
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Very concerned
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32%
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7%
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17%
|
7%
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15%
|
|
Somewhat concerned
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47%
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34%
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54%
|
29%
|
43%
|
|
Not very concerned
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18%
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32%
|
26%
|
53%
|
32%
|
|
Not at all concerned
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2%
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27%
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3%
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12%
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10%
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Thankfully, at its highest in China where the environmental cost of the country’s rapid industrialisation is quickly reaching tipping point, eight out of ten young children are concerned about the need for conservation, nearly one third (32 per cent) of which according to their mothers are ‘very concerned’. This is in surprising contrast to Thailand, a nation similarly developing and yet with the lowest level of concern of all countries included in the study.
According to the study’s findings, children’s primary source of information about environmental issues is television (70 per cent) closely followed by school (65 per cent) and to a lesser degree friends (28 per cent). It is highly possible however that this deduction by mothers is more a reflection of the number of hours their children spend each week involved in these pursuits – they were revealed by the study to watch an average of 13 hours of TV each week.
It is interesting to note that parents were not cited in the study as a source of information about environmental issues, especially as when they were asked whether children knew better about such things than they did the answer was a resounding no. With such high levels of concern expressed by the children’s mothers, it is surprising that a higher level of parental influence was not found potentially suggesting that in addition to directing awareness raising efforts at children, parents also may need to be better engaged to step up and recognise their role as models of responsible global citizenship.
About ‘Kids Power’
The Kids Power report represents the cumulative responses of a total of 901 mothers of children aged between 3 and 9 years old in four Asian countries: China (n=201), Thailand (n=200), Malaysia (n=302) and Japan (n=198). Data was collected during August 2007 via online interviews conducted using TNS 6th Dimension Access Panels.
About TNS
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Our strategic goal is to be recognised as the global leader in delivering value-added information and insights that help our clients to make more effective decisions.
As industry thought leaders, our people deliver innovative thinking and excellent service to global organisations and local clients worldwide. We work in partnership with our clients, meeting their needs for high-quality information, analysis and foresight across our network of over 70 countries.
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